


The Drift

by Akzeal, DinobotLoki



Category: Invader Zim, Pacific Rim (Movies)
Genre: Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, Fix-It of Sorts, Gen, Get the man a drink, M/M, Stacker is not paid enough for this, The Tallest are young, Zim has no chill, au in general, humans are space orks
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-13
Updated: 2021-03-18
Packaged: 2021-03-21 12:13:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,283
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30021609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Akzeal/pseuds/Akzeal, https://archiveofourown.org/users/DinobotLoki/pseuds/DinobotLoki
Summary: When the Irken Empire is decimate by unknown and seemingly unstoppable creatures, the survivors must flee. On Earth, the Pan-Pacific Defense Corps is holding their own, but desperately needs an edge. Can either race work together long enough to have a hope?This is a crossover, made from the Irken perspective for the most part.
Relationships: Almighty Tallest & Stacker Pentecost, Almighty Tallest Purple/Almighty Tallest Red, Dib & Gaz (Invader Zim), Dib & Invader Skoodge, Dib & Professor Membrane, Dib & Tak (Invader Zim), Dib/Zim (Invader Zim), Invader Skoodge & Zim, Tak & Zim (Invader Zim), The Almighty Tallest & Zim
Comments: 6
Kudos: 9





	1. End of an Empire

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to our new, huge, fic. This one is _not_ finished, unlike most of ours, so we hope you enjoy the ride!

It didn’t take long for the Irken empire to fall. Production planets, parking-lot moons, and more- they fell all suddenly and without warning. A civilization built on invading became an invaded one, as thousands of them fled. The first half dozen planets were a minor inconvenience, the first full dozen- that was a concern. 

Even the full military might of the empire could not stretch out to every planet in the Irken empire. And, after cycles of trying, Tallest Red and Purple called for the last of their people to escape as best as they could. 

-

“What do you think, Red?” Purple asked. The planet below them was blue and wet, but it looked okay. Red glanced over at the nearest viewscreen. The  _ Massive _ , once a crownship built for glory, was badly damaged after an asteroid storm. Surrounding small voot cruisers and light-wing crafts were likely to be fine, but if they landed, there was no certainty that the  _ Massive _ would be able to move ever again.

“Can we make it?” he asked the nearest pilot. 

“Barely,” the other Irken answered. “But I’m sending signals out- if there is life on this planet, maybe they can help us.”

“Great! Ah. And what if there  _ isn’t _ ?”

“...Then we manage on our own?” the pilot answered, because that really was all there was to it.

Red shrugged, surprisingly pragmatic after cycles of things falling apart. “Not like we have much of a choice. And I bet it’s going to be a water-landing, from how much of it there is. Ooh, what if they’re all aquatic? That might work out…”

“That would be nice. And hopefully the water isn’t acid, like that last planet…” Purple muttered. 

The Irken pilot nodded and started the landing process while Red turned away, moving to look over the latest news of refugees from Irken held planets. The truth of the matter was that they hoped this planet would have food and water, too. The stocks they’d managed to get were dwindling, and both he and Purple, and others who were on the taller ends- they were starting to really struggle with the rations. 

Thoughts moved to the ship, watching as they managed to land not in the water, but in the middle of an empty continent. 

Both Red and Purple watched on view-screens as the scientists of Irk checked things, and as wheeled crafts approached the  _ Massive _ and surrounding Irken ships. The natives, then? 

The Tallest looked at each other, and then the primitive wheeled crafts and creatures that climbed out. “Should we go meet them?” Purple asked. 

Red considered it, then shrugged. “What other choice do we have? Hopefully the universal translator will work.” 

“I hate it when it doesn’t,” Purple whined, sighing.

“Aaand… I regret to inform you that this ship is  _ not _ moving again without a whole lot of work,” the pilot broke in. “And materials that we just… don’t have.”

“...That’s that, then,” Red said, shrugging again. He offered a hand to Purple, and together they walked- actually walked- down and through the  _ Massive _ until they reached the level with the doors that would best open, and closest to the ground. The ship had never been meant to land, and so there weren’t any proper embarkment doors.

They ended up going through the hanger bay, pausing a moment to adjust to the air and sun and smells of yet another new world.

“...Red?” Purple murmured, still clinging to his co-ruler.

“Yes?”

“This  _ sucks _ .”

Red sighed. “I know,” he said. 

He waved a hand at the natives of the planet. They looked a bit like Irkens- but tall. Enough species didn’t have leadership like Irkens did, but… They were also variations of a pink-tan color, some darker than others. They wore clothing, at least.

“Hello!” he greeted, trying to speak up, over the wind. 

Two of the creatures looked at each other, and then one waved back. “Hello!” it responded. 

“Who or what are you?” the second asked. “Did you crash?” 

Red shared a look with Purple, and then Purple slowly smiled and nodded, stepping closer. Red watched, breathing a sigh of relief- well. This was going well, so far. 

And then he heard Zim’s voice and winced. “Ooh, this looks like a good planet!” 

He turned in time to see a few other Irken dragging Zim back in and thanked the remnants of Irk for such good soldiers. It wasn’t entirely Zim’s fault, the taller among their race were very headstrong and willful, but- 

Once again, thoughts were interrupted as Purple waved at him. “They’re friendly!” he called. Red was once again relieved, and followed him the rest of the way down the ramp. 

-

The species on this planet, the humans, were… interesting. Red blinked as he sat in front of one of them, Purple on his other side. The human was darker in color than the ones that had found them sixteen rotations before- or two ‘weeks’ as the local timescale went- and sterner, too. He stared at them with a look that reminded Red of an angry scropinash. 

The humans were very eager to trade in technology and aid, because, as it seemed, they too had been attacked by the creatures, the ‘kaiju’ as they called the monsters. But the humans, despite having no empire, only one planet, had managed to keep the kaiju at bay. Somehow. 

“My name is Marshal Stacker Pentecost,” the human said. Military- they could handle that. “I oversee all rangers in the jaeger program.” 

"All whats in the who?" Purple asked, before Red elbowed him. "Ah, I mean- I'm Tallest Purple-"

"And I'm Tallest Red. We are the- Tallest of- of the former Irken Empire." They had, unhappily, dropped the 'Almighty' part of the title when they had to call flight. It was  _ still _ hard to believe everything was gone.

"We lost to those  _ things _ you are keeping back," Purple added, softly, the words so bitter on his tongue. "Is that program you mentioned the way you're doing that?"

The Marshal nodded. “Indeed,” he said, gesturing out a window, which showed a hanger- or at least, what they’d call a hanger. But instead of ships, there was other machinery, and humans running all around, climbing and working. “Tallest? Mm.” He shook his head. “That is probably not polite to ask,” he said, before resting his arms and elbows on the table. “The jaeger program is our defence against those ‘things’ as you say. We call them kaiju.” 

“How?” Purple asked. “They destroyed us and all of our weapons.” 

Stacker stood. “Here, we’ll show you,” he said, before gesturing. Red and Purple looked at each other, and then stood as well. 

The hanger was… large. Of course, so were the things in it- robots, they realized as they got closer, as the strange colors and shapes and flashes of fire resolved into limbs and paint and skin, uniforms and welding torches, engines and guidance lights. They could make sense of the what, but still not the why.

“We  _ tried _ mecha,” Red said, because Purple was still giving little outraged buzzes and confused (and some excited) clicks. “They cut through a dozen Mecha-Doomers. How do  _ you _ manage?”

Stacker raised a brow, mouth turning up in the tiniest smirk. "Neural interfacing," he said. "We first tried mechs as well, but the reaction times are simply not good enough." 

"But the mental taxation- our people have implants, but yet couldn't handle such a load that would cause," Purple said. 

"And that is why we share the load," Stacker answered. "We found that a two-pilot system alleviates the problem."

“Two?” Purple asked, stopping in place and clicking, lekku shifting as he tried to work that out.

“Two?” Red echoed, with his own click and looking over the humans he could see.

“No, no, that doesn’t make  _ sense _ -”

“How are  _ you _ capable of-” Red shook himself, focusing back on Stacker. “Did not expect that. Obviously we didn’t consider that. I am gonna ask how, but  _ politely _ .” He elbowed Purple again, who jumped a bit and nodded.

“Yeah! Yeah, because- Because… well. We’re gonna help!” Purple agreed. Stacker, for his part, had developed an odd twitch in one eye.

“Two, sometimes three,” Stacker said. He gestured, leading them back in through another set of tunnels, to a viewing platform. “We call it the Drift, when two minds meld into one, able to work together to pilot.” The room they entered was a command center of some sort, with humans working over 3-D screens and monitoring various odds and ends. “It is a neural network technology. And how, pray tell, do you intend to ‘help’ us?” 

“We can certainly manage neural connections, and we are  _ still _ the best military force in the galaxy,” Red answered. “Unless you are  _ also _ military culture, only I’m pretty sure we saw ads for… beauty creams? And… toys?” He clicked, then shrugged, and Purple took over. 

“We almost certainly have new technology, as well. And even if there’s no better option than to do the same thing your doing- which is  _ working _ \- well, hey. It’s  _ working _ . These… ‘kaiju’ had the unmitigated  _ gall _ to attack Irk and- And… we…” Purple paused, remembering the order, and then stiffened. “Well, if they like  _ rocks _ in  _ space _ , they’re very happy now.”

There was a moment, a softness, but then Stacker nodded. “Alright, fair enough. We can use all the help we can get, honestly.” He actually had a slip of a smile again. “Let’s see what positions we have. And I’m sure that, yes, the civilian side of things is open…” 

Red perked, nodding. “We have brilliant technicians,” he said. “I’m sure we could work together.” He glanced at Purple, who was also looking thoughtfully at one of the robots. 

“And if we are staying… the  _ Massive _ can be used for building.” He blinked as Stacker made a humming noise. 

Red jerked, a little, then chirped and nodded. “Yeah. It’s… not really going to move again, I guess, is it.” It still hurt, to lose it, to give up- only they weren’t,  _ really _ , giving up. They were going to  _ win this _ …

“We… do need to go let them know what’s going on, though. Ah. How… do you… contact each other when you need to talk? In case something comes up,” Purple agreed, which was how they wound up borrowing a ‘phone’ until that could get worked out better.


	2. Meet the Roommate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They were _roommates_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are bits of 'Humans are Space Orks' in this, so if that's your jam, enjoy!
> 
> I also wonder if anyone got the 'hint' about what happened to Irk...

Excitement and nervousness were at war as Zim bounced along. With successful negotiation about how to best work together with humans, a number of the elite were accepted into the ‘ranger’ rank and file- though at the lowest rung of the ladder. His work at piloting one of the Mecha-Doomers, and lasting nearly the longest (only Skoodge had done better) had been part of the reason. 

Now, dragging his kit behind him, he was searching for the right place for training. The hallways were all so nearly the same, and so were the doors. It wasn’t anything  _ new _ , of course, and the warren-like nature of the area was actually kind of soothing. Of course the colors were all wrong, but that could be managed, and Zim gave a pleased warble as he finally reached the right door. Opening it took another moment, and then he was in.

And immediately noticed that someone else already lived here. There was  _ stuff _ all over, and it was  _ terrible _ . Zim picked his way over the clothing to the beds, and tried to figure out which one was taken. He’d been  _ told _ to be polite, so of course he would be! Even when he couldn’t figure out which bed he should use- it wasn’t like he  _ needed _ a bed! Or a place to put his stuff!

After a moment, he realized that a human was pointing and staring open mouthed at him. It faded into an angry sound a moment later. “What the hell are  _ you _ doing in my  _ room _ ?” the human demanded. 

Okay, humans were  _ weird _ . And kind of ugly, Zim decided, before motioning at his kit. “It is Zim’s room as well. Which  _ inferior _ mattress do you use, worm-baby? And have you  _ ever _ heard of cleaning? Great Irk-” The oath stumbled out, and then Zim shook his head. It didn’t matter!

“ _ Excuse me _ ?” the human asked. He climbed from the bed, then snatched the paper Zim held up, showing his room number and information. “What the fuck- and I’m not a ‘worm-baby’ alien scum,” he added. Glowering, he pointed to the lower bunk. “That’s yours, then until you fail out, I guess. Damn Pentecost…” 

“He is your  _ superior _ !” Zim hissed, starting to toss everything that was on the bunk off. “You  _ will _ show him respect,  _ worm-thing _ .” It wasn’t like the human had given a name, and Zim really didn’t care. The  _ Tallest _ had declared the human Marshall to be worthy of all respect that would usually be given to someone almost as tall as them, even if he  _ wasn’t _ Irken. It was unusual, but this whole situation was, and Zim wasn’t going to question them.

“Superior or not, he’s a massive dick,” the human snapped back, collecting things as Zim tossed them. “And I’m not a worm-thing, either. My name is  _ Dib _ .” His hand lashed out to snatch up something before Zim could throw it. “Fucking menace.” 

Zim barely held himself back from swiping at the hand, just because of nerves, but no, he had  _ promised _ to be polite! “Dib-thing, then. And you may  _ think  _ whatever you like, of course, but Zim will not  _ stand _ for such seditious speech about one who has earned the respect of even the  _ Tallest _ ! ...I’m Zim, by the way.”

“Pft,” Zim scoffed. “What are you going to do to stop me, huh? Nothing, that’s what.” He poked a finger at Zim, then snatched more from the bunk, putting it all in a pile while Zim made a face. It was so messy! Military people, like this one was supposed to be, should be neat and orderly and clean and respectful!

“Dib-beast will find out if you keep doing it!” Zim warned. At least the bunk was clear, and Zim was  _ very _ glad he had his own bedding. “And how do you  _ function _ with everything strewn around so much! Why do you even have so much?”

Dib glowered at him. “I have what I have, fuck off,” he grumbled. “Fucking Pentecost didn’t warn me or anything to know I might want to tidy up.” He waved a hand dismissively. “It’s organized mess, anyway. Jerk.” 

“You should not  _ need _ warning,” Zim answered, standing straighter and letting the pak-legs out in clear threat. There was, maybe, a moment of worry- if nothing else, this Dib had time-in-service over him. But… this kind of insubordination was unforgivable! “And you will  _ cease _ your  _ disrespect _ !” Really, the amount of warning he was giving was ridiculous, Zim thought, before pinning the human to the wall with his body, legs splayed and one quite close to his head.

Dib made a low sound, and the next thing Zim knew the human had lashed out with a balled fist, hitting the Irken's jaw. "Fuck you, asshole," he spat, lashing out again and sending them into a tumble of furious limbs. Zim was not expecting just how much strength was behind the blows from Dib, or how easily he dodged pak legs.

Zim gave as good as he got, though, striking back and remembering a little belatedly that humans were  _ supposed _ to be more fragile. Not like a disrespectful  _ worm _ really deserved much more than this, and he growled, hissing and shifting to keep Dib more or less where he wanted. The fact that Dib seemed equally interested in tearing off his lekku helped with that, and neither being remembered that Zim had never actually closed the door when he came in.

They were torn apart suddenly, Zim yanked off of the human by another, while a fourth was dragging Dib away too. 

"Enough!" The sound of the Marshal's voice had Zim freezing up, as much as he wanted to continue smacking sense into Dib. He jumped when Stacker looked at him, then at Dib, "Both of you, meet me in my office," he said, voice leaving no argument. Oh. No wonder the Tallest liked this human and respected him. Zim had met him once, at the beginning, tall and proud and- Dib was already moving, leaving, and Zim frowned. 

He wasn’t sure why  _ he _ was needed- Or even why the Marshal himself had been down here. But… this was  _ certainly _ not the time, or place, and he followed, not having  _ quite _ fully memorized everything. Anyway, he wasn’t going to let  _ Dib _ show him up!

Dib seemed to be seething, which was only as he should be. Zim bit his tongue to keep from hissing at the way Dib  _ clearly _ only followed because he had to, but… it was also kind of impressive that the human wasn’t limping or noticeably favoring a side.

The ‘office’ was not as fancy as Zim thought that such a figure would have, but still, he was startled when Stacker sat down, and Dib… did not. He stood in front of the desk still visibly angry. 

“So, care to tell me why you two were fighting?” he asked. 

Zim paused, just a moment, to see if Dib would speak first, and wasn’t really surprised when he didn’t. “He would not cease his obvious disrespect of you, my- Marshal,” Zim answered, because that was what had happened!

"I said you were a asshole for not warning me," Dib supplied, while holding back snickers of  _ amusement _ . 

Zim hissed at him. "It is not a laughing matter! You show respect to a super-" 

"Zim," Stacker interrupted, sighing. "You do not need to, ah, enforce respect like that," he said. "As long as my orders are followed on the field, and my rangers respect me to my face." He glanced at Dib, then at Zim again. "You will hear me be called many nasty names. Some of them are even practically endearments, now. Isn't that right, Dib?" 

“Sure,” Dib agreed, while Zim frowned and twitched, clicking rapidly. And that just made Dib snigger more-

Zim bit his tongue, going rigid in perfect attention. As angry as Dib made him, he had been given orders. “I understand, my Marshal. ...But Zim is  _ not sorry _ .” He wouldn’t do it again, and he was  _ going _ to make Dib learn, and Stacker proud,  _ and _ his Tallest proud!

“And that’s just fine. You’re both going to be on morning kitchen duty, though, for the next week. I don’t tolerate any fighting amongst anyone here, is that clear?” Stacker looked mostly at Dib when he spoke, though Zim clicked again. 

“Of course- yes, my Marshal,” he said. 

“Yes, sir,” Dib added, making Zim blink in surprise. 

“Good, we have an understanding, then. Zim, you’re dismissed. Dib, I wish to continue our discussion, because  _ you _ know better.” 

Zim went back to his room, deeply confused but overall feeling pretty decent about how this had turned out. He  _ wasn’t _ supposed to fight anyone? But that was okay, it wasn’t like he  _ wanted _ to just go fight anyone he saw. And there had to be training, of course, that would help.

He had time to make up his bed,  _ and _ work on picking up the piles that were in his way. Zim even looked into the bathing area, deeply unhappy with its state, and he was debating where to start when the door opened- and closed, this time.

It was Dib. He rolled his eyes at the Irken. “What are you even doing now?” he grumbled, grabbing at different bits and pieces around the room, actually tidying it up. 

“Cleaning. Since Zim is to live here, I must be able to make my way without  _ tripping _ on…  _ piles _ .” And he didn’t want to know what kind of stuff was in the piles, really. “Which desk are you using?” He was being  _ so nice _ , Zim thought.

Dib huffed. “It’s not that messy,” he said. He pointed to the desk farthest from the door, and covered in… stuff. Zim didn’t know what it all was, other than it was metal pieces of some type. 

“It is that messy,” Zim answered. “Zim doesn’t understand how you live like this.” 

“Pretty easily, actually,” the human said. 

Zim hissed at that, distinctly unimpressed. “You are  _ pathetic _ , Dib-beast. I cannot  _ comprehend _ how you have been allowed to maintain your-” He trailed into a growl, not actually sure what to say- and even with paks, the human English wasn’t the easiest language to use. “ _ Zim _ will follow rules.” With that, he went to clean off the other desk.

That got a laugh. “Yeah, okay,” he said. “Go ahead, I’ve heard worse than you could ever say, you little gremlin.” Dib waved a hand as though shooing Zim away. “And thanks to you, we have early morning kitchen duty.” 

“Zim  _ warned _ Dib,” Zim grumbled, but he let it go. Kitchen duty didn’t sound  _ that _ terrible to him, and it certainly couldn’t be anything worse than what the Irken academy had put him through.

He settled into his bunk about the same time Dib did, and was relieved that the human at least seemed to respect basic hygiene, if not cleanliness. Zim was surprised to find he had time to relax after waking up- and then he wondered how much longer Dib was going to be sleeping. It was early morning! But… he also didn’t want to wake the human, not at all.

As it turned out, Dib woke up not long later. 

He led the way towards the kitchens- which, as it turned out, Zim distinctly didn’t like. Most of it was scrubbing and cleaning, which was not terrible in itself. The cooking of gross food was worse- somehow- than eating it. Though… Zim had to admit that he was getting more used to it. 

At least knowing what went  _ into _ it helped Zim know what he’d like faster than having to  _ try _ everything. And, after scrubbing and cleaning and cooking, they were allowed to eat, with a fairly large amount of time.

After that was training, and Zim had to remind himself that this was going to be  _ boring _ and  _ basic. _

-

By the end of the day, Zim did have to admit that he was  _ exhausted _ . Basic was basic, but humans were, it was apparent, more geared into the long haul of work. By mid day, Dib had grinned at him, amused. It had urged Zim on, though he really just wanted to go back to their room and sleep after it was all said and done. 

It didn’t help that there was barely anything  _ sweet _ in any of the meals. Fruit was well and good, but Zim thought he would  _ literally _ kill for a candybar. He didn’t  _ get _ a candybar, of course. He got to go back to the barrack room he shared with a human  _ worm-beast _ and figure out how to use the shower.

As much as he  _ longed _ to, Zim  _ refused _ to go to bed before Dib did. It wasn’t helped by the human immediately going to work on his metal collection, and Zim realizing he had  _ nothing _ to do. On the other hand, he’d managed to get through the day without having to actually  _ talk _ to his roommate, and he wasn’t going to spoil that.

The Irken did wash up- thank Irk that the water was not acid- and then returned to the main room. He was hungry again, honestly, but he, again, was not willing to try and get more food when Dib was not. 

"Are you just going to watch me the whole time?" Dib asked, making Zim jump. "Aren't you bored yet?" 

And there went his day. Zim frowned, then shrugged. “Yes. Zim has nothing to do. Watching the Dib-beast play with metal is marginally more entertaining than attempting to calculate how many argon atoms are in the room,” he answered. Neither of those really distracted him from being hungry, either, but he knew how to ignore that.

“I’m not  _ playing _ with it,” Dib said with a snort and roll of his eyes. Then he waved a hand, shrugging. “You could go to sleep, you know.” 

“Zim does not want to sleep,” Zim said, giving a small hiss. “Zim is fine.” 

“Oh, come  _ on _ . Alien or not, I recognize exhaustion when I see it. And it’s a good way to pass the time, even if you don’t  _ need _ it, space-boy,” Dib answered, not even looking at Zim.

“Perhaps for inferior humans!” Zim answered. “Do not tell me how to  _ pass time _ . I have been a loyal soldier for longer than  _ you _ have existed, Zim is sure!” It was really hard to tell humans ages, of course, but most low-rank military were also low-time, and therefore usually young.

Dib snorted. “Uh-huh,” he said, snorting again. “‘Kay, you do that, then.” He pulled a drawer open, rifling around an utter  _ mess _ of wires and tools, and pulling out some tool or another. The human was so aggravating, even for such things that shouldn’t be. 

It was such a relief when Dib put things away and got himself clean. He hated that he was tired, and he hated that Dib wasn’t as tired. He also hated everything else about this, in the moment. 

Zim waited until Dib was fully in bed, and then he lay down and curled up, as tight as he could go. He really hated that he didn’t even have anyone here, and that he was going to have to wake up, do this again, and again, and again…

Eventually, he found sleep.


End file.
